In an interview with ESPN published Wednesday, the 22-year-old Towns said he agrees with former NBA Commissioner David Stern's stance that the drug should be removed from the league's banned substance list. Towns raised the issue when asked by an ESPN reporter what change he would make if he were in NBA Commissioner Adam Silver's place.

Towns told reporters in Minnesota before the game Wednesday against San Antonio that his experiences working with autistic children and his research into the medicinal benefits of marijuana have helped shape his belief. He said he hoped to help erase the "bad stigma" about the drug, which he said he has never used.